Amazon.com: Until the Final Hour: Hitler's Last Secretary (9781559707565): Traudl Junge, Melissa MÃ¼ller, Anthea Bell: Books By mwreview on January 13, 2005 Format: Hardcover For any reader interested in Adolf Hitler as a person, not just as the ranting and raving dictator, Traudl Junge's account is the best resource available. Junge (nee Humps) was one of Hitler's private secretaries from the tenth anniversary of Hitler's coming to power to the dramatic fall of the Nazi regime just two and one half years later. During much of this time, Junge's duties were primarily social. Junge accompanied Hitler for meals and relaxation almost daily. She observed him in a way very few people did and was one of a minute number of Hitler's companions who survived the war to tell her story. She wrote her memoirs in 1947 and they were later published in Voices From the Bunker. I have read that book about four times and this edition once. Her account is as fascinating now as it was the first time I read it.

Voices From the Bunker is one of my all-time favorite books. If you already have Voices From the Bunker and are wondering if this book is worth owning, I would say it is only if you are interested in Junge beyond her experiences with Hitler. This book includes more background information on her pre-Hitler life (I had not read before that her father had taken part in the 1923 Beer Hall Putsch) and a 30-page chapter written by Melissa Mueller in 2001 that follows Junge's post-war life chronologically. It would not be until the revisionist 1960s when people took an interest in her story. Otherwise, the bulk of the work is the same 1947 account in Voices. I've compared sections between the two books and, although they are not the same verbatim with a few minor details added or omitted, the account is basically the same. I like the way Voices is divided up better, with more chapters separating the story (i.e. The July Bomb Plot). It is more useful for looking up information than Until the Final Hour which is mostly one long chapter.

Voices also includes accounts of Hitler's aides-de-camp Otto Guensche and pilot Hans Baur which this book does not offer. Until the Final Hour does have very interesting end notes with side tidbits and brief biographical information on many of the people Junge mentions. Junge died February 10, 2002, soon after the first German publication of her memoirs. Her memories were controversial in her homeland because her experiences with Hitler were pleasant. She knew him as a polite host and gentle father figure who showed compassion and human emotions (i.e. when he offered condolences to her after her husband died at the front). Only in brief snippets does she hint at the harsher side of the dictator. Hitler tries to hide his emotional explosions in meetings with his military officers. Frau von Schirach (wife of the head of the Hitler Youth) was no longer invited to be Hitler's guest after she voiced concern to him about trains full of deported Jews headed for Amsterdam (p. 88). Junge would finally become angry with Hitler when he gave up on the war and was accusatory to the end (Junge typed up his last demands and will). She, of course, kept such feelings of disappointment to herself.

Her viewpoint is, admittedly, from an isolated world with one set of beliefs and a "puppet master" who controlled the day-to-day lives and thoughts of those around him. She describes Hitler's demeanor and routine at the Wolf's Lair (Hitler's headquarters in East Prussia), at the Berghof (his mountain retreat), and finally in the bunker as Berlin was being surrounded. She offers a unique perspective on many aspects of the dictator's life: his dietary habits, the attention he gave to his dog Blondi, his outlook on the war, his after-dinner small talk with such intimates as Eva Braun and important visitors like Albert Speer, Josef Goebbels, etc. Her account of the final days in the bunker with the Russian army drawing near is very moving. You almost feel like you were there. By Candace Scott on February 29, 2004 Format: Hardcover For people who haven't read much about Hitler, this will be an interesting book. Traudl Junge was one of his secretaries from 1942 until his death three years later.

She never knew him as well as Schroeder, Wolf or Gerda Christian, his other secretaries, and this is because she arrived so late on the scene. Hitler had deteriorated physically and mentally by 1942, so she was never privy to the full range of his charisma; she saw him in the period of his marked decline. For those who think Hitler behaved as "movie Hitlers" act, then you'll be shocked to see that in private, he was a charming, fatherly fellow, at least to his inner circle. Hitler's dark, maniacal side was reserved for Himmler, Bormann and others. Junge grew attached to Hitler and enjoyed his company, even the interminable nightly monologues. This entire book was previously published in 1989 and was called "Voices from the Bunker." Junge died in 2003 and this has been rushed out because of her recent demise. If you're well-versed in Hitler, there is nothing new here, Junge was interviewed exhaustively for years before her death.

I was able to meet her, in Munich, twenty years ago, and she was a reserved, rather withdrawn woman, oppressed with guilt because she had served a mass murderer. I think anyone with an interest in Hitler will enjoy the book, but don't expect any new or revealing material. By W. Brandt on April 15, 2006 Format: Paperback I bought this book after having viewed The German-made movie The Downfall (German title Der Untergang). This movie is based in large part on the memoirs of Traudl Junge, the co author of this book. Co-Author is a bad term since large portions of her diary (written shortly after the war) are printed intact together with observations written by Melissa Muller. They complement each other. Junge has the ability of stepping into the 3rd person and examining herself in an objective manner. Melissa Muller goes into detail in the "Special Features" of the DvD on how she met Frau Junge (looked her up in the Munich phone book) and finally convinced her to put her diary into a book for posterity. Their collaberation lasted 3 years.

I believe the resulting work is as important as Albert Speer's observations. As an aside I read that when the book was completed, Junge, who was dying of cancer, said something to the effect that "her work was done" and died a few days later. She gave the world an intimate look at the psychology of Hitler, who could be charming while at the same time indifferent to the deaths of millions. Muller deals with the phases of self reflection most Germans went through after the war. Perhaps telling - not only for Frau Junge - was at first denial. Junge said that, while not a Nazi, she took the Secretarial job offered by Hitler more out of curiousity. She worked in Hitler's inner circle for 3 years. Revealing is the observation of her husband, Hans, whom she met while in Hitler's employ. Hans noted that he "had to get out of here" - paraphrasing) "my own thoughts are overpowered by Hitler's" - he volunteered for the front and was killed in Normandy during D Day.

By the late 60s or early 70s Traudl had a revelation - an epiphany - seeing the Munich memorial plaque commeration of Sophie Scholl - the young student killed by the Nazis for her anti Nazi views. Beyond that you will have to read the book. Hitler's general portrayel in the West of either a bumbling clown (Charlie Chaplin) or a raving lunatic does not explain how he could get control of a cultured nation of 65 million. This book will give you better understanding. I also recommend buying or renting The Downfall as a companion. Downfall (2004 film) Downfall (2004 film) $92.2 million [3] Downfall ( German : Der Untergang) is a 2004 German - Italian - Austrian historical war drama film depicting the final ten days of Adolf Hitler ‘s rule over Nazi Germany in 1945. It was based on several histories of the period. The film was directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel , and written and produced by Bernd Eichinger . The film received critical acclaim upon release and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film .

Contents 9 External links Plot The film begins with an excerpt from the documentary Blind Spot: Hitler’s Secretary (2002), featuring the real Traudl Junge expressing her guilt and shame for admiring Hitler in her youth. The film continues showing Hitler ( Bruno Ganz ) hiring Junge ( Alexandra Maria Lara ) as his secretary at the Wolf’s Lair in East Prussia in November 1942. The story resumes on 20 April 1945, the Führer’s birthday, during the Battle of Berlin . A loud artillery blast wakes up Traudl, Gerda Christian and Constanze Manziarly in the room they share. Down in the Führerbunker , Hitler is informed by Wilhelm Burgdorf that Berlin is under attack and then by Karl Koller that the Red Army has advanced to within 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) of central Berlin. At Hitler’s birthday reception, Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler and his SS adjutant Hermann Fegelein plead with Hitler to leave the city.

Instead, Hitler declares, “I will defeat them in Berlin, or face my downfall.” Himmler leaves to negotiate surrender terms with the Western Allies , behind Hitler’s back. In another part of the city, a group of Hitler Youth members are bolstering defenses. Peter, one of the members, is urged by his father to desert but refuses. In yet another part of the city, SS physician Ernst-Günther Schenck convinces a general to allow him to ignore an evacuation order and is then requested by Brigadeführer Wilhelm Mohnke to bring any available medical supplies to the Reich Chancellery . Meanwhile, Hitler discusses his new scorched earth policy with his Minister of Armaments, Albert Speer , while Eva Braun holds a party for the bunker inhabitants that is broken up by artillery shells. Traudl suffers an anxiety attack at the realisation that the bunker is under siege and begins crying. The next day, while his unit is fighting off the Red Army, General Helmuth Weidling is summoned to the bunker to await execution for ordering a retreat to the west.

After explaining to Hans Krebs and Burgdorf that it was a misunderstanding, Weidling is promoted by Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel to oversee Berlin’s crumbling defences. Hitler orders an attack from Felix Steiner ‘s unit to stem the Soviet advance – army groups which at this point only exist on paper . Later, Hitler is informed by Krebs and Alfred Jodl that Steiner physically could not mount the attack. Dismissing everyone from the room except for Keitel, Jodl, Krebs, and Burgdorf, Hitler flies into a furious rage against what he perceives are traitorous actions against him and finally acknowledges that the war is lost. However, he is determined to stay in Berlin to the bitter end, even if it means killing himself, saying “But, gentlemen, if you believe I’m going to leave Berlin, you are seriously mistaken. I’d rather blow my brains out.” After seeing conscripted civilians of the Volkssturm needlessly gunned down in battle, General Mohnke confronts Joseph Goebbels , their commander, about the slaughter. Goebbels tells Mohnke that he has no pity for the civilians, as they chose their fate.

Hitler loses his sense of reality and orders Field Marshal Keitel to find Admiral Karl Dönitz , who Hitler believes is gathering troops in the north, and help him plan an offensive to recover the Romanian oil fields. Later on, Martin Bormann interrupts a meeting between Hitler, Goebbels, and Walther Hewel to read a message from Luftwaffe chief Hermann Göring requesting permission to assume command and become head-of-state . Hitler responds by stripping Göring of his rank, ordering his arrest, and naming Robert Ritter von Greim as his replacement. Hitler then receives further upsetting news when Speer informs him that he has defied Hitler’s scorched earth policy orders. Hitler does not punish Speer, but he does not shake his hand as Speer leaves. At dinner, Hitler receives a report that Himmler has contacted Folke Bernadotte in an attempt to negotiate surrender. Hitler orders von Greim and his mistress, test pilot Hanna Reitsch to find Himmler and that his adjutant Fegelein be brought to him. After being informed by Otto Günsche that Fegelein has deserted, Hitler orders Fegelein executed for treason.

Reichsphysician SS Ernst-Robert Grawitz , the head of the German Red Cross also responsible for Nazi human medical experiments , asks Hitler for permission to evacuate Berlin for fear of reprisal from the Soviets for his actions. When he does not get it, Grawitz goes home and kills himself and his family with grenades. That night, Fegelein is arrested and executed by an RSD squad. News grows even grimmer as Weidling reports to Hitler there are no reserves left, and Mohnke reports that the Red Army is only 300 to 400 metres from the Reich Chancellery. Hitler reassures the officers that General Walther Wenck ‘s 12th Army will save them. After Hitler leaves the conference room, Weidling firmly asks if it is truly possible for Wenck to attack; the generals all agree that it is impossible, but still resolve to never surrender. After midnight, Hitler dictates his last will and testament to Traudl, before marrying Eva Braun. Hitler orders Goebbels to leave Berlin, but Goebbels refuses.

The following morning, Weidling reports that not only was Wenck not able to attack, all of their remaining armies are now immobilized and incapable of any meaningful action, and that the Reich is no more than a few hours away from total defeat. Finally accepting that there is no hope, Hitler decides to commit suicide before he can be captured. Hitler summons Dr. Schenck, Dr. Werner Haase , and nurse Erna Flegel to the bunker to thank them for their medical services for the wounded. Dr. Haase explains to Hitler the best method for suicide as well as for administering poison to Hitler’s dog, Blondi . Hitler eats his final meal and then bids farewell to the bunker staff. He then gives Magda Goebbels his own Golden Party Badge Number 1. Emotionally overcome by the gesture, Magda tries to convince Hitler to reconsider suicide, but Hitler does not. Hitler and Eva then kill themselves and, as per his orders, are cremated in the Chancellery garden. Meanwhile, Krebs meets with Marshal Vasily Chuikov of the Red Army to negotiate peace terms but returns unsuccessful. Goebbels berates his generals, reminding them Hitler forbade them to surrender.

Hans Fritsche leaves the room to try and take matters into his own hands, only to nearly be shot by an angry Burgdorf. After this, with the help of SS Dr. Ludwig Stumpfegger , Magda kills her six young children with cyanide. She and her husband then walk up to the Chancellery garden, where Goebbels shoots his wife and then turns the gun on himself. The remaining staff in the bunker begin to evacuate, while Krebs and Burgdorf commit suicide. Weidling broadcasts to the city that Hitler is dead and that he will be seeking an immediate ceasefire . Traudl, Gerda, and the remaining SS troops that managed to leave the bunker are sticking with Schenck, Mohnke, and Günsche as they try to flee the city. Hewel manages to join them, but after word reaches them of the surrender he and several others shoot themselves. The same thing happens to many others the group comes across. Meanwhile, the child soldiers have all fallen victim to the Soviet charge except for Peter, who also discovers that a Greifkommando or Feldgendarmerie squad has executed his parents.

While the Red Army ranks are only streets away, Traudl decides to leave. Peter pulls her through the masses, but she blunders into a celebrating drunken Red Army soldier. Peter tugs her arm, and she hastens away. At a ruined bridge, Peter finds a bicycle and they pedal away from Berlin. The epilogue then tells the fates of the other characters and one final excerpt from the 2002 documentary, where the real life Traudl appears before the credits.

Cast Alexander Slastin as Soviet Colonel General Vasily Chuikov Development The film was based upon the books Inside Hitler’s Bunker : The Last Days of the Third Reich (1945), by historian Joachim Fest ; Until the Final Hour : Hitler’s Last Secretary (1947), the memoirs of Traudl Junge , one of Hitler’s secretaries (co-written with Melissa Müller ); Inside the Third Reich (first published in German in 1969), the memoirs of Albert Speer , one of the highest-ranking Nazi officials to survive both the war and the Nuremberg trials; Hitler’s Last Days: An Eye–Witness Account (first English translation 1973), by Gerhard Boldt ; Das Notlazarett unter der Reichskanzlei: Ein Arzt erlebt Hitlers Ende in Berlin by Doctor Ernst-Günther Schenck ; and Soldat: Reflections of a German Soldier, 1936–1949 (1992), Siegfried Knappe ‘s memoir.

Ganz conducted four months of research to prepare for the role, studying an 11-minute recording of Hitler in private conversation with Finnish Field Marshal Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim in order to properly mimic Hitler’s conversational voice and distinct Austrian dialect. [4] The film is set mostly in and around the Führerbunker . Hirschbiegel made an effort to accurately reconstruct the look and atmosphere of the bunker through eyewitness accounts, survivors’ memoirs , and other historical sources. According to his commentary on the DVD, Der Untergang was filmed in Berlin, Munich , and in a district of Saint Petersburg , Russia with many buildings designed by German architects, which was said to resemble many parts of 1940s Berlin. The film was ranked number 48 in Empire magazine’s “The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema” in 2010. [5] The film’s impending release in 2004 provoked a debate in German film magazines and newspapers.

The tabloid Bild asked, “Are we allowed to show the monster as a human being?” [6] Reception Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a “Certified Fresh” rating of 91%, based on 136 reviews with an average score of 8.1 out of 10. The consensus states “Downfall is an illuminating, thoughtful and detailed account of Hitler’s last days.” The film also has a score of 82 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 35 reviews, indicating “Universal Acclaim”. [7] With respect to the film’s depiction of Hitler, The New Yorker film critic David Denby noted: [8] As a piece of acting, Ganz’s work is not just astounding, it’s actually rather moving. But I have doubts about the way his virtuosity has been put to use. By emphasizing the painfulness of Hitler’s defeat Ganz has … made the dictator into a plausible human being.

Considered as biography, the achievement (if that’s the right word) … is to insist that the monster was not invariably monstrous – that he was kind to his cook and his young female secretaries, loved his German shepherd, Blondi, and was surrounded by loyal subordinates. We get the point: Hitler was not a supernatural being; he was common clay raised to power by the desire of his followers. But is this observation a sufficient response to what Hitler actually did? A few journalists in [Germany] wondered aloud whether the “human” treatment of Hitler might not inadvertently aid the neo-Nazi movement. But in his many rants in [the film] Hitler says that the German people do not deserve to survive, that they have failed him by losing the war and must perish – not exactly the sentiments [...] that would spark a recruitment drive. This Hitler may be human, but he’s as utterly degraded a human being as has ever been shown on the screen, a man whose every impulse leads to annihilation.

After previewing the film, Hitler biographer Sir Ian Kershaw wrote in The Guardian : [9] Knowing what I did of the bunker story, I found it hard to imagine that anyone (other than the usual neo-Nazi fringe) could possibly find Hitler a sympathetic figure during his bizarre last days. And to presume that it might be somehow dangerous to see him as a human being – well, what does that thought imply about the self-confidence of a stable, liberal democracy? Hitler was, after all, a human being, even if an especially obnoxious, detestable specimen. We well know that he could be kind and considerate to his secretaries, and with the next breath show cold ruthlessness, dispassionate brutality, in determining the deaths of millions. Of all the screen depictions of the Führer, even by famous actors, such as Alec Guinness or Anthony Hopkins, this is the only one which to me is compelling. Part of this is the voice. Ganz has Hitler’s voice to near perfection. It is chillingly authentic. Addressing other critics like Denby, Chicago Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert wrote: [10] Admiration I did not feel.

Sympathy I felt in the sense that I would feel it for a rabid dog, while accepting that it must be destroyed. I do not feel the film provides “a sufficient response to what Hitler actually did”, because I feel no film can, and no response would be sufficient. As we regard this broken and pathetic Hitler, we realize that he did not alone create the Third Reich, but was the focus for a spontaneous uprising by many of the German people, fueled by racism, xenophobia, grandiosity and fear. He was skilled in the ways he exploited that feeling, and surrounded himself by gifted strategists and propagandists, but he was not a great man, simply one armed by fate to unleash unimaginable evil. It is useful to reflect that racism, xenophobia, grandiosity and fear are still with us, and the defeat of one of their manifestations does not inoculate us against others.

Hirschbiegel confirmed that the film’s makers sought to give Hitler a three-dimensional personality: “We know from all accounts that he was a very charming man – a man who managed to seduce a whole people into barbarism.” [6] The film was nominated for the 2005 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in the 77th Academy Awards . The film also won the 2005 BBC Four World Cinema competition. [11] The author Giles MacDonogh criticised the film for sympathetic portrayals of Wilhelm Mohnke and Ernst-Günther Schenck . Mohnke was rumoured, but never proven, to have ordered the execution of a group of British POWs in the Wormhoudt massacre near Dunkirk in 1940, while Schenck’s experiments with medicinal plants in 1938 allegedly led to the deaths of a number of concentration camp prisoners. [12] In response, the film’s director stated he did his own research and did not find the allegations as to Schenck convincing.

Mohnke strongly denied the accusations against him, telling historian Thomas Fischer, “I issued no orders not to take English prisoners or to execute prisoners.” [13] German director Wim Wenders called the filmmakers’ collaboration with a history professor “a strategic move to compile cultural capital and move the film beyond the reach of reprehensibility, challenge, or contradiction by writers or critics unwilling to engage the material other than by pointing out historical inaccuracies.” He felt that the film said: “Wir wissen, wovon wir reden” (“We know what we’re talking about”). He argued that Der Untergang presented an uncritical viewpoint toward the barbarism of its subject matter and accused the filmmakers of “Verharmlosung” (“trivialising”). Wenders supported this observation with close readings of the film’s first scene, and of Hitler’s final scene, suggesting that in each case a particular set of cinematographic and editorial choices left each scene emotionally charged, resulting in a glorifying effect. [14] Parodies The movie is well known as the inspiration for “Downfall parodies”.

One scene in the film, in which Hitler launches into a furious tirade upon finally realizing that the war is lost, has become a staple of internet videos. [15] In these videos, the original German audio is retained, but new subtitles are added so that Hitler and his subordinates seem to be reacting instead to some setback in present-day politics, sports, popular culture, or everyday life. Other scenes from various portions of the film have been parodied in the same manner, notably the scenes where Hitler orders Otto Günsche to find SS-Gruppenführer Hermann Fegelein , and where Hitler discusses a counterattack against advancing Soviet forces with his generals. By 2010, there were thousands of such parodies, including many in which Hitler is incensed that people keep making Downfall parodies, [16] and videos that depict Hitler as having a fierce rivalry with Fegelein, with the latter plotting mischief against his superior through a number of cruel and often comical antics. Hitler makes repeated attempts to kill Fegelein, only to have Fegelein repeatedly escape death or come back from the dead.

Hitler is also depicted as being easily angered by Jodl, who is shown to object repeatedly to whatever plans he makes. Some parodies even feature Hitler ranting against the atrocities committed by his historical counterpart. Clips from other films, such as Inglourious Basterds , Dear Friend Hitler , Valkyrie , Hitler: The Last Ten Days and even films or footage that have little or nothing to do with Downfall’s subject matter, have also been juxtaposed for humorous effect, along with characters and settings from different, and often unrelated series, as well as other films actors from Downfall have starred in. Parodies that make use of special effects or computer-generated imagery are also starting to become popular among fans, ranging from superimposing the characters’ heads on other footage, to rotoscoping scenes from the film into different backgrounds. The parodies, as well as the film itself, have also gained a cult following , spawning a community of YouTube users who call themselves “Untergangers”, [17] [18] devoted to the practice of making Downfall-related videos. Some of them have cited their reasons for making the parodies.

[19] Stacy Lee Blackmon, a YouTube user known for maintaining the Hitler Rants Parodies channel, [20] has over 1000 videos to his name as of September 2014. In an interview with the Swedish magazine show Kobra, Blackmon denied that parody makers are neo-Nazi sympathizers and stated that the Unterganger community disparages Nazism. [18] The film’s director, Oliver Hirschbiegel , spoke positively about these parodies in a 2010 interview with New York magazine, saying that many of them were funny and they were a fitting extension of the film’s purpose: “The point of the film was to kick these terrible people off the throne that made them demons, making them real and their actions into reality. I think it’s only fair if now it’s taken as part of our history, and used for whatever purposes people like.” [21] Nevertheless, Constantin Film has taken an “ambivalent” view of the parodies and has asked video sites to remove many of them. [22] On 21 April 2010, the producers initiated a removal of parody videos from YouTube .

[23] This prompted posting of videos of Hitler complaining about the fact that the parodies were being taken down , and a resurgence of the videos on the site. [24] In October 2010, YouTube stopped blocking Downfall-derived parodies. [25] Corynne McSherry, an attorney specializing in intellectual property and free speech issues [26] for the Electronic Frontier Foundation , said: “All the Downfall parody videos that I’ve seen are very strong fair use cases and so they’re not infringing, and they shouldn’t be taken down.” [27] Constantin Film went on to produce and distribute the Hitler-themed comedy Look Who’s Back (2015), which includes an extended spoof of the oft-parodied scene from Downfall. [28] In January 2012, British Labour MP Tom Harris stepped down from his Internet adviser role following adverse media reaction to his Downfall parody ridiculing Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond .

[29] In July 2013, Jefferies Group , an American investment firm, was ordered by a Hong Kong court to pay $1.86 million to former equity trading head Grant Williams for firing him for sending out a newsletter that linked to a Hitler parody video, mocking JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon . [30] [31] See also Traudl Junge - Wikipedia, Photos and Videos Traudl Junge NEXT GO TO RESULTS [51 ..

100] WIKIPEDIA ARTICLE 10 February 2002(2002-02-10) (aged 81) Munich, Bavaria, Germany Adolf Hitler 's personal secretary during the Second World War Spouse(s) Hans Junge (killed in combat in 1944) Children Max Humps and Hildegard Humps (née Zottmann) Relatives Sister; Inge Humps Gertraud "Traudl" Junge (née Humps; 16 March 1920 – 10 February 2002) worked as Adolf Hitler 's last private secretary from December 1942 to April 1945. After typing out Hitler's will, she remained in the Berlin Führerbunker until his death. Following her arrest and imprisonment in June 1945, both the Soviet and the American militaries interrogated her. Later, in post-war West Germany , she worked as a secretary. In her old age she decided to publish her memoirs, claiming ignorance of the Nazi atrocities during the war, but blaming herself for missing opportunities to investigate reports about them.

Her story has formed a part of several dramatizations, in particular the 2004 German film Downfall (Der Untergang) . Contents Early life[ edit ] Gertraud "Traudl" Humps was born in Munich , the daughter of a master brewer and lieutenant in the Reserve Army, Max Humps and his wife Hildegard (née Zottmann). She had a sister, Inge, born in 1923. She once expressed her desire to become a ballerina as a teenager. [2] Working for Hitler[ edit ] Traudl Junge began working for Hitler in December 1942. She was the youngest of his private secretaries. "I was 22 and I didn't know anything about politics; it didn't interest me", Junge said decades later, also saying that she felt great guilt for "...liking the greatest criminal ever to have lived." She said, "I admit, I was fascinated by Adolf Hitler. He was a pleasant boss and a fatherly friend. I deliberately ignored all the warning voices inside me and enjoyed the time by his side, almost until the bitter end.

It wasn't what he said, but the way he said things and how he did things." At Hitler's encouragement, in June 1943, Junge married Waffen-SS officer Hans Hermann Junge (1914–1944), who died in combat in France in August 1944. She worked at Hitler's side in Berlin, the Berghof in Berchtesgaden , at Wolfsschanze in East Prussia , and lastly back in Berlin in the Führerbunker. Berlin, 1945[ edit ] In 1945, Junge was with Hitler in Berlin. During Hitler's last days in Berlin, he would regularly eat lunch with his secretaries Junge and Gerda Christian . [3] After the war, Junge recalled Gerda asking Hitler if he would leave Berlin. This was firmly rejected by Hitler. [4] Both women recalled that Hitler in conversation made it clear that his body must not fall into the hands of the Soviets. He would shoot himself. [4] Junge typed Hitler's last private and political will and testament in the Führerbunker a day and a half before his suicide .

Junge later wrote that while she was playing with the Goebbels children on 30 April, "Suddenly [...] there is the sound of a shot, so loud, so close, that we all fall silent. It echoes on through all the rooms. 'That was a direct hit,' cried Helmut [Goebbels] with no idea how right he is. The Führer is dead now." On 1 May, Junge left the Führerbunker with a group led by Waffen-SS Brigadeführer Wilhelm Mohnke . Also in the group were Hitler's personal pilot Hans Baur , chief of Hitler's Reichssicherheitsdienst (RSD) bodyguard Hans Rattenhuber , secretary Gerda Christian, secretary Else Krüger , Hitler's dietician Constanze Manziarly and Dr. Ernst-Günther Schenck . Junge, Christian and Krüger made it out of Berlin to the River Elbe . The remainder of the group were found by Soviet troops on 2 May while hiding in a cellar off the Schönhauser Allee.

The Soviet Army handed those who had been in the Führerbunker over to SMERSH for interrogation, to reveal what had occurred in the bunker during the closing weeks of the war. [5] Post-war[ edit ] Although Junge had reached the Elbe , she was unable to reach the western Allied lines, and so she went back to Berlin. Getting there about a month after she had left, she had hoped to take a train to the west when they began running again. On 9 July, after living there for about a week under the alias "Gerda Alt", she was arrested by two civilian members of the Soviet military administration and was kept in Berlin for interrogation. While in prison she heard harrowing tales from her Soviet guards about what the German military had done to members of their families in Russia and came to realise that much of what she thought she knew about the war in the east was only what the Nazi propaganda ministry had told the German people and that the treatment meted out to Germans by the Russians was a response to what the Germans had done in the Soviet Union. [6] Junge was held in sundry jails, where she was often interrogated about her role in Hitler's entourage and the events surrounding Hitler's suicide.

By December 1945, she had been released from prison but was restricted to the Soviet sector of Berlin. On New Year's Eve 1946, she was admitted to a hospital in the British sector for diphtheria , and remained there for two months. While she was there, her mother was able to secure for Junge the paperwork required to allow her to move from the British sector in Berlin to Bavaria. Receiving these on 2 February 1946, she travelled from Berlin and across the Soviet occupation zone (which was to become East Germany ) to the British zone, and from there south to Bavaria in the American Zone . Junge was held by the Americans for a short time during the first half of 1946, and interrogated about her time in the Führerbunker . She was then freed, and allowed to live in postwar Germany. [7] Later life[ edit ] Following the war, Junge appeared in two episodes (No. 16, "Inside the Reich" (1940–1944) and No.

21, "Nemesis: Germany (February – May 1945)") of the Thames Television (ITV) 1973 television documentary series The World at War and was interviewed for the 1975 book The Bunker by James P. O'Donnell and Uwe Bahnsen. She worked in secretarial jobs and for many years as chief secretary of the editorial staff of the weekly illustrated magazine Quick . Junge twice resided briefly in Australia , where her younger sister lived; her application for permanent residence was denied due to her past Nazi association. [8] In 1989, Junge's manuscript about her life throughout the war was published in the book Voices from the Bunker by Pierre Galante and Eugene Silianoff (New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons). Also in that year, she was interviewed in the BBC documentary The Fatal Attraction of Adolf Hitler and discussed at length her impressions of Hitler and the final days with him in the Führerbunker. In 1991, she appeared in the documentary series Hitler's Henchmen produced by German television channel ZDF .

The 2002 release of her memoirs Until the Final Hour , co-written with author Melissa Müller and describing the time she worked for Hitler, brought media coverage. She was also interviewed for the 2002 documentary film Blind Spot: Hitler's Secretary , which drew much attention. Junge died from cancer in Munich on 10 February 2002 at the age of 81, [9] reportedly having said shortly before her death, "Now that I've let go of my story, I can let go of my life." Further attention came two years later, when some of Junge's experiences with Hitler were portrayed in the Academy Award -nominated film Der Untergang (Downfall). Excerpts from her interviews are seen at the beginning and at the end of the film. At the end, she states: [10] Of course, the horrors, of which I heard in connection of the Nuremberg trials ; the fate of the 6 million Jews, their killing and those of many others who represented different races and creeds, shocked me greatly, but, at that time, I could not see any connection between these things and my own past.

I was only happy that I had not personally been guilty of these things and that I had not been aware of the scale of these things. However, one day, I walked past a plaque on the Franz-Joseph Straße (in Munich ), on the wall in memory of Sophie Scholl . I could see that she had been born the same year as I, and that she had been executed the same year I entered into Hitler’s service. And, at that moment, I really realised that it was no excuse that I had been so young. I could perhaps have tried to find out about things. Portrayal in the media[ edit ] Traudl Junge has been portrayed by the following actresses in film and television productions. [11] Until the Final Hour: Hitler's Last Secretary: Amazon.es: Traudl Junge, Melissa Muller: Libros en idiomas extranjeros Libros en idiomas extranjeros + EUR 2,99 de gastos de envÃ­o De 2Âª mano: Muy bueno | Detalles Vendido por worldofbooks-es Estado: De 2Âª mano: Muy bueno Comentario: Book has been read but is in excellent condition.

No missing or damaged pages. Maybe some identifying marks on the inside cover. Quality guaranteed from the largest seller of used books online. AÃ±adir a la cesta AÃ±adir a la Lista de deseos Â¿Tienes uno para vender? Volver atrÃ¡s Ir adelante Escuchar Reproduciendo... Interrumpido EstÃ¡s escuchando una muestra de la ediciÃ³n de audio Audible. Tapa blanda, 17 mar 2005 — Los clientes que compraron este producto tambiÃ©n compraron PÃ¡gina 1 de 1 Volver al inicio PÃ¡gina 1 de 1 Esta funciÃ³n de compra seguirÃ¡ cargando artÃ­culos. Para moverse por la cinta de carga, utilice la tecla de acceso de secciones para dirigirse a la secciÃ³n siguiente o anterior. DescripciÃ³n del producto Críticas This memoir is a unique historical document, naive in some respects but trustworthy in its testimony and oddly thrilling in its unknowing progress to a terrible doom.

(TIMES (2.4.05) ) Reseña del editor 'To have such an uncomplicated, unaffected witness present at some of the key defining moments of the 20th century was fortunate for historians...her testimony rings absolutely true, when other politically motivated accounts of the last days of Hitler do not' Andrew Roberts Traudl Junge was 22 years old and dreamt of a career as a ballerina, until the 'opportunity of her life' beckoned and she was appointed as Adolf Hitler's secretary. From 1942 until his death she was at his side in the bunker, typing his correspondence, his speeches and even his last private and political will and testament. It was only after the war that the horrible reality of Hitler's regime began to dawn on her, and she became racked with guilt for 'liking the greatest criminal ever to have lived.' Her journal, written in 1947, is a startling eyewitness account of Hitler's court during its final years, and of the building sense of doom as the war progressed. No es necesario ningÃºn dispositivo Kindle.

DescÃ¡rgate una de las apps de Kindle gratuitas para comenzar a leer libros Kindle en tu smartphone, tablet u ordenador. Apple ObtÃ©n la app gratuita: o Â¿No tienes un Kindle? Consigue un Kindle aquÃ­ o descarga una aplicaciÃ³n de lectura Kindle GRATUITA. Detalles del producto Tapa blanda: 240 pÃ¡ginas Editor: Phoenix; EdiciÃ³n: Film tie-in edition (17 de marzo de 2005) Idioma: InglÃ©s Â¿Quieres actualizar la informaciÃ³n sobre un producto o dar tu opiniÃ³n sobre las imÃ¡genes ? Amazon Premium: EnvÃ­o 1 dÃ­a GRATIS y mucho mÃ¡s Los clientes Premium disfrutan de EnvÃ­o 1 dÃ­a GRATIS en mÃ¡s de un millÃ³n de productos, Acceso Prioritario a Amazon BuyVIP y Ofertas flash, Almacenamiento de fotos gratis e ilimitado y acceso a las series Amazon Originals, entre otras pelÃ­culas y series.

TodavÃ­a no hay opiniones de clientes en Amazon.es 5 estrellas 5.0 de un mÃ¡ximo de 5 estrellas INSIGHTFUL, ENGROSSING HISTORY! 9 de mayo de 2014 Por P. A. Panozzo - Publicado en Amazon.com Formato: Tapa blanda Compra verificada The movie Downfall inspired me to purchase this book. I found it to be a page turner! When I keep at a book and not lose interest in it, I know it has to be a unique work. You wouldn't think that Traudl Junge née Humps, a simple young German girl working as a secretary (to help realize her dream of one day becoming a ballerina!) could have such an insightful story! I found it enlightening with regard to her boss Hitler and his entourage. The final days in the bunker make up a small part of the story and co author Melissa Muller's added material really clarifies Junge's perspective. It was difficult to put this book down! I highly recommend this book as well as the movie Downfall.

Downfall 0 de 1 personas piensan que la opiniÃ³n es Ãºtil 5.0 de un mÃ¡ximo de 5 estrellas To be a "fly on the wall" in Hitler's bunker! 27 de enero de 2014 Por Brian W. - Publicado en Amazon.com Formato: Tapa dura Compra verificada This is a great book, in that it gives an up close and personal account of Hitler and "life" in the bunker until the final days of World War 2. I was mesmerized by Junge's account of Hitler because all the other accounts I have read of him are that he was an evil monster that was intent on ruining civilization; I am not arguing that he wasn't, but this book shows what Hitler was like from someone that knew and lived with him for years. This is one of the best World War 2 books that I have read because of the personal view that the readers gets. It is just absolutely fascinating to learn about Hitler from one of his secretaries. The book is also sad and tragic; towards the final parts, I felt like I was in the bunker with them.

I felt very sorry for Junge who seems to blame herself for the war and the Holocaust even though she was just a young girl at the time that had no clue what was going on and was brought under Hitler's spell, as so many millions of people were. I wish that Junge knew she wasn't morally responsible. So, if you are interested in World War 2, the Third Reich and Hitler, I would recommend buying this book. It shows how one man's extreme nationalism, antisemitism, narcissism and will power can bring the world to its knees. 5.0 de un mÃ¡ximo de 5 estrellas Until the Final Hour - Hitlers Secretary 24 de marzo de 2011 Por JWL - Publicado en Amazon.com Formato: Tapa blanda Compra verificada Being a WW2 History Buff, it was a book well worth waiting for to read. The last days of Hitler as told by his secretary is both fasinating and gives the reader an inside look at the insane Hitler in those last days. Recommend this book to all. Por Mr. Ronald E.

Hubbard - Publicado en Amazon.com Formato: Tapa blanda Compra verificada Good book,good co.to do business with. The world is round and we all go round and round and keep reading. 5.0 de un mÃ¡ximo de 5 estrellas Five Stars 22 de diciembre de 2014 Por ANTHONY PARISI - Publicado en Amazon.com Formato: Tapa blanda Compra verificada A

Question: Traudl Junge, who wrote the book Until the Final Hour that was the basis for the 2004 film Downfall was the personal secretary of which historical figure?
Answer: Hitler